Son of Love
by arober94
Summary: Aphrodite's kids are viewed as weak and useless beyond two or three, but Love is a powerful tool. What if one of her children could really kick some and take names? How will this affect Percy Jackson's universe?
1. We Aren't Just Pretty

Three pairs of red eyes stared at the young male that had dropped the pairs from seven. His scent had not been powerful, but a lone demigod in the middle of the woods was too much for creatures from Tartarus to pass up. With the scent that the monsters had caught, they thought it would be an easy meal, but the celestial bronze weapons proved otherwise and now the pack was severely depleted. They would barely be able to take down a small group now thanks to the teen in front of them, but they would definitely be taking this one that had wounded the pack and they could tell the demigod in front of them was running out of steam.

The young male demigod panted, trying to suck in enough breath to keep going as he fought down the pain of his numerous wounds. Fighting one on seven with monsters that had hunted demigods for centuries was not a fun experience and his brown hair was plastered to his forehead by sweat and blood. His eyes though, his brown eyes were just as strong as they were when the fight started and although he was worried about what was coming next, there was a hint of excitement in his eyes at the possible fight. He wasn't a child of Ares or any of Ares' offspring, but that could be easily mistaken for his battle lust that always seemed to appear.

Just as the three hellhounds prepared to attack together, a war horn sounded through the clearing pausing the four beings. Two dozen girls stepped out from the woods and they were led by what appeared to be a young girl with auburn hair. The young man turned to the hell hounds that were now whimpering as all the pointy objects were aimed at them. "Think you could take me out before they deal with you?" In answer the monsters burst into a cloud of golden dust as silver arrows embedded themselves into the ground. "Selfish bastards," He muttered.

Kicking the dust a little and muttering about selfish bastards, the young demigod walked over to one of the piles of dust and picked up two daggers that were underneath the pile. Just as he was about to leave and avoid talking to those that had interrupted the fight one of the girls stepped up and tried to force a bit of intimidation on him.

"You think you are just going to leave with my daggers, boy?" She spat out the word boy as if it were a curse and she was flanked by two other girls.

The male simply raised his eyebrow, not at all impressed. "Your daggers? Well, if you attack me with one, I'll take it as a spoil of war, but other than that no plans."

"As if you could take me," The girl scoffed, "And I'm talking about the daggers that you just sheathed. Those are mine and I'll be taking them back," She said extending her hand.

Before he could retort the auburn girl that had let the group out of the woods made her way over and inserted herself into the conversation. "What seems to be going on here? And who are you?"

"I am Alan, son of one of the Olympian goddesses and apparently, your hunters suck Lady Artemis as this one claims to have missed her target and thrown two of her daggers all the way over here," Alan answered. He wasn't the politest, but when his mother and Artemis seemed to be constantly at each other's throats, he wasn't going to be.

"What did you say boy!" The girl that had tried to grab the daggers snarled as she drew her bow and pointed it at his face.

"Put it away little girl," He waived off the threat and to the surprise of everyone, the girl did just that, "The grownups are talking."

"A son of Aphrodite," A raven haired girl spoke, one with a tiara on her head, "What are thee doing out here away from camp? After all a child of that goddess can not fight."

The cheery disposition on Alan's face disappeared and he sent a cold look at the hunter that just spoke. "Put your dagger against you throat, all of you," He commanded and they did so. Even Artemis struggled for a brief moment before casting off the demigod's charmspeak. "The four dust piles that you hunters had no hand in speak otherwise, but we don't really have to fight now do we? Even Lady Artemis struggled for a moment."

The charmspeak had been broken and now every female in the clearing was glaring icy daggers at Alan, "You don't understand why my brothers and sisters act like they do, do you? My mother is as powerful as Kronos and Atlas if not more so and it took the combined forces of the Big Three and their siblings to take him down. If she wanted to Lady Artemis, my mother could have you break your vows easily and make you enjoy it. Now, take part of her powers and place them in a body of a mortal and my siblings and I are lucky we can even somewhat function without blowing up. When we are claimed, it's always around the age of twelve, always near the age of puberty when explorations in my mother's domain typically begins. That is why the children of Aphrodite seem so scattered all the time. If we make it to eighteen, we can finally control the power that was given to us by our mother, but since you all share the same opinion as the campers do, it's a rare time when Aphrodite's kids make it to their eighteenth and when they do they usually have no desire to stick around the idiots that never tried to help them."

"Then how are you able to function?" Artemis asked, heat still in her voice as the thought of what this boy was able to do to her girls, but for some reason she was fascinated as well.

"I was claimed earlier than my siblings and earlier than many half-bloods period. I already had a decent grasp of what mom gives her children before I entered puberty. Same thing supposedly happens with Demeter's children as well. Now I just have to wait as my powers grow stronger every year." Now the girls around Alan were scoffing as he defended what was in their minds two of the weakest cabins at Camp Half-Blood that never showed much power. Artemis on the other hand was truly thinking about what the boy said. It made sense in a way that she did not want to admit that Aphrodite was so much more powerful than she was as she was constantly fighteing with her fellow Olympian. Her aunt's children being so powerful also made sense as she was a sibling of the Big Three and older than Zeus. Her children having immense power was not a huge leap when thinking about the kids that came from her brothers.

"Why are you out here?"

"Making my way to camp, enjoying a bit of nature and taking on the few monsters that are attracted by my scent. Unfortunately for me, I ran into seven hellhounds," He shrugged. "Now it looks like I need to go straight to camp and get these wounds checked, so if you'll excuse me."

He turned to leave, but the girl that had first stopped him made her presence known once again. "You're not leaving with my daggers!"

"They're not your daggers," Alan said blandly and then withdrew one, "Unless of course, you admit that you stole from one of my siblings." He pointed to the symbol of Aphrodite on the hilts. "Then of course, I'll be taking them as recompense anyways." With that Alan walked away and disappeared within the trees. As he left, many of the hunters spoke ill things about the boy who had threatened them and disregarded their mistress. Artemis and her lieutenant however, had looks on their faces that showed they were not simply dismissing his words out of hand. He was a powerful individual at what looked to be fifteen and if what he said was true, well it needed further research.

It was a few hours later, after her girls had set up camp for the next few days, that Artemis found time to appear on Olympus and for the first time ever, willingly arrive at Aphrodite's temple. "Artemis!" The bubbly persona of the goddess of love greeted her. "This is a surprise," Aphrodite claimed while ushering her in, "What can I do for you?"

"I met a boy in the forest just a few hours ago," Artemis began, but was cut off by Aphrodite's squeal.

"Oh, Artemis has her first crush, this is so exciting. Who is he? Do I know him?"

"It isn't like that Aphrodite," She glared at the other goddess, but forcefully calmed herself. She needed answers and just hoped the love goddess would be serious for once. "Though yes, you do know him. He is your son, a boy called Alan."

Aphrodite adopted a hard gaze that chilled Artemis to the core as she never realized her fellow Olympian could look like that, "What did you do to him? Speak."

Unable to control herself and the bit of fear that was growing inside her, Artemis did as she was told. "Nothing, nothing," She cried, "My hunters stumbled upon him and dispatched the last three hellhounds that were attacking him. One of my hunters demanded his daggers and claimed them as her own, but he took care of her and the rest of my hunters and then left to make his way to camp."

The harsh glare disappeared from Aphrodite's gaze as she nodded in acceptance, her charmspeak not allowing anyone to lie to her when she commanded it. "I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but Alan is easily my favorite of my sons. So you met him, but why are you here?"

"He said some things that worried me, could you really make me break my vows?"

The predatory grin that appeared on Dite's face was another thing that Artemis never thought she would see. "He commanded all of your girls didn't he? The answer is all over your face and I am so proud of him. Artemis, I could make you break your vows with your brother and enjoy it, while Zeus and his brothers lick the ground I walk on with but a few simple words and some power. If I wanted to, I could become queen of Olympus quite easily and Zeus knows this as does Hera which is why they are smart enough to not piss me off. You ask me if I could control you, and the answer is simply quite easily."

Artemis shuddered at the revelation and with morbid curiosity asked her question, "Then why don't you take over? The other gods don't respect you and demigods certainly don't respect your children, so why don't you show them all?"

"And do you respect me now Artemis? Do you respect me or do you fear me?" Aphrodite's grin fading away to be replaced by a melancholy expression.

"Perhaps fear is a better description," Artemis admitted grudgingly, unable to believe that the goddess she argued with the most was more than her outer appearance.

"Fear is a horrible thing for me, Artemis. While most consider hate to be my opposite, fear is truly my antithesis. I get no enjoyment from causing fear, I am the goddess of love for Chaos' sake! I have no reason to ever cause fear in someone. Besides, what would I do if I was forced to rule? No, I much prefer my position now. If you want to continue arguing with me as Athena does, do not be afraid to do so. After all, I've survived centuries so far and the insults you two come up with are quite amusing, but now that you know just what I am capable of I would suggest you stay out of dangerous territory."

Artemis took that as her dismissal and she was truly grateful with the thoughts running through her head she knew she needed time to sort it all out. "Thank you 'Dite," Artemis said as she made her way to the door. Just as she placed her hand on the door, Aphrodite spoke once more.

"Oh Artemis, Alan is my favorite son. I know he is a demigod and his life will be hard, but if one of your hunters takes it upon herself to harm him, you will not have to worry about having someone like that in your hunt. She, and every hunter that stands by and laughs at Alan's misfortune, will no longer be maidens and they will be taken forcefully. Ta ta now," 'Dite waved her hands and smiled as Artemis grew pale and left quickly.

When the moon goddess was gone from her temple, Aphrodite turned to look at her viewing mirrors arrayed on the wall, one for each of her children. She gazed into Alan's mirror and saw that had her son had stopped for the night just a few miles away from camp, his designer jeans and fitted top having repaired themselves already due to her blessing. "Well done my son, well done," She whispered as he wrapped his wounds. "I have big plans for you and I can't wait until everybody realizes how powerful love truly is."

 **A/N: Yes, I know another story when I have three or four others going on at the moment and a sequel promised, but what can I say. When inspiration strikes you gotta write and this only took me a few hours. I got the inspiration after reading Aphrodite's origins and then thinking about her kids in the story. I was going to make this a crossover with Harry Potter, but I didn't feel like dealing with magic. I don't know where this story is going or when I will update, but here it is. If I do decide on pairings, I'm leaning towards my OC and Thalia.**

 **Think of this also as a challenge, only a few gods had a demigod to look up to and appreciate when there were plenty of Olympians that didn't get their chance to shine. I would love to see a child of Demeter kick Percy's ass when they try to earthquake each other or something like that.**


	2. Sickly Tree

It was just before lunch when Alan crossed the borders of camp and since he had spent time in Camp Half-Blood already, he didn't suffer the curse that seemed to be placed on all arriving demigods. Every single one seemed to have to fight some type of monster, whether it be just one or a group, and survive until help arrived. Generally, help would come quick enough that anybody that the worse anyone would suffer is a few days in the hospital tent. There were a few instances where the demigod wasn't so lucky like nights of capture the flag when everybody was on the other side of the camp, but there were very few that suffered such a fate. As much as the gods were removed from their children, they became… displeased when one of theirs did not reach safety when they were so close.

Alan smiled as he gazed at the camp from the hill next to the Big House. It was the start of the summer session and he was glad to be back after missing the last one due to his father taking Alan with him to the Far East. He couldn't train against any monsters last summer, but there were still plenty of those that followed the way of the sword and steel in the places he visited. Deciding to follow the rest of the campers and grab a bite to eat, he made his way towards the pavilion and the loud voices of his fellow demigod.

He was just another face in the sea of demigods until he sat down next to his favorite sister at the moment, Silena. She didn't notice him for a minute until she turned to see just who of her siblings had sat beside her. Attention was attracted to the Aphrodite table as Silena squealed in delight and crushed her half-brother in a hug. Many turned to see just what the fuss was all about as Silena was not the typical Aphrodite child, so her squeals were very rare. The other campers had to stare for a moment before they recognized Alan and many let out a breath of relief and a small smile on their face. Since he hadn't returned to camp the previous year and demigods were difficult to get a hold of at the best of times it was assumed that Alan had perished during the year. Although no one was really close to anyone in the Aphrodite cabin, it was good to see that the demise of a fellow demigod had been greatly exaggerated.

"Ah Alan," Chiron said as he walked up to the table, "It is good to see you back in one piece. May I ask why you were not here last summer?"

"My father took me out of the country for the summer and I wasn't sure how to get into contact with the camp. We left too quickly for me to find an address for this place and I wasn't sure if Iris Messaging would cover continental separation."

"Ah, well we are all relieved that you are okay. I hope that you have been keeping up with your exercises," Chiron half asked, half demanded. He had been around long enough to know just what a child of Aphrodite could do and although he expected great things from Percy as a son of Poseidon, he expected even better from Alan. The fact that Silena was also a child that wasn't too heavily involved in the less appreciated aspects of Aphrodite.

"Of course sir," Alan answered with a grin.

"Good, good," Chiron chuckled, "We will test this soon enough in the arena, but until then enjoy your lunch and the time with your siblings." With that said Chiron left the table alone and it was Silena's turn to talk to her half-brother.

It was after lunch had broken that Alan interacted with the rest of the camp. There were a few pats on the back and waves from some of the male campers who had been able to see past his lineage and everybody shot him a smile in relief that he was alive. It was a group of Ares' children that started to cause the problems. "If it isn't pretty boy," a girl around Alan's age sneered. Clarisse La Rue had been an antagonist of Alan's ever since they had arrived at camp in the same summer while Clarisse stayed nice to the rest of the Aphrodite cabin. Ares and Aphrodite campers were usually pretty close thanks to their parents' relationship, but Alan discovered that this only truly extended to those that didn't pose a threat to any of the Ares's campers. Since Alan wasn't like his siblings and his skill with his two blades was well known at camp, he was the only child of Aphrodite that didn't have a good relationship with them.

"Piggy, I mean Clarisse," Alan acted like he had stumbled over his words, but none were fooled, "It's good to see you again. You look better than last time I saw you. Let me guess, you finally learned to duck last summer."

Clarisse tightened her grip on her sword itching to wipe the smirk of the young demigod's face while Alan simply stood there calmly, completely relaxed. "You better watch your back Alan. While it may be troubling times, there will still be time for the Ares cabin to put you in your place."

"Yes, yes, beware your evil power and all that. Don't you all have lessons though? I know you aren't much for the brain department, but if you ask nicely I'm sure one of Lady Athena's children would help you catch up. Skip along now," He said while lacing in a bit of charmspeak in his words at the end. He really didn't like bending the will of others to his demands, but he made an exception for those that purposefully antagonized him. Plus, charmspeak usually took a bunch out of him and he had to take time to recuperate.

When Alan shook off the fatigue he turned to the cabin head and said one word, "Explain."

He sat by Thalia's tree and watched as Apollo's chariot slowly descended towards the horizon and tried to make sense of all that had happened in a year of his absence. The master bolt had been stolen from Olympus, a child of Poseidon had been discovered and then that same demigod had made his way into the underworld, and it was all caused by Luke and Ares who had had Kronos whisper into their ears about how the world could change. It was disheartening to know that someone he called a friend had turned to the dark side, for lack of a better term, and others were following him. Alan knew intellectually that this was bound to happen with the crowding of Hermes cabin, but he did not think that Kronos himself would be leading this new faction.

Soft steps brought Alan out of his thoughts and he was able to tell that the steps were not from a human. "Are you alright dear child?" Chiron asked when he came level with the son of Aphrodite.

"I'm getting there Chiron. It's just disconcerting to know that the world has changed so much in only a year. I had heard grumblings from other demigods about splitting off, but still…" Alan lifted his hands uselessly.

Chiron hummed as he mused over Alan's words, "I guess it is a bit disconcerting for those that did not see the beginning of the current cold war. We immortals have seen things like this before and the rest of the camp was here to see the start of it all. Have no fear though as you will grow used to the surroundings."

Alan sent a sardonic smile to his teacher, "And what does that say about a demigod's life Chiron? Should I be worried that things will get worse when this becomes normal for me?" The answer was plain on Chiron's face even though he did not answer. "I know that there are few demigods with a happy ending, but I think by the end of all this I will be wishing to end up like Heracles and being happy with that."

Chiron had a bitter look on his face as he stared at Alan. "All I can say is that I truly am sorry for all of you."

"Say Chiron," Alan said after a moment of silence, "Does Thalia's tree look a bit different to you?"

"What do you me-?" The trainer of all heroes started before he too noticed what Alan was saying. The very top branches of the tree seemed to have lost their health and to Chiron and Alan's horror a few of the thistles fell down to the earth.

"That's never happened before, has it Chiron?" Alan asked worriedly. Before anything else could be said, trembles of the Earth could be felt and just on the edge of their vision the heads of a handful of monsters could be seen. "I don't think this is a coincidence Chiron."

"No, I do believe you are right. You have your weapons, yes?" At Alan's nod, Chiron continued, "Good, I shall sound the horn and send everyone to help you. They should be far enough away that the rest of the campers will get here in time."

As Chiron galloped away to rouse the Camp's defense, Alan pulled out his sword and a dagger and tried to prepare himself. Looking at the incoming group, he was relieved to see that it was a small group of monsters and easily taken care of. Not by himself of course, but with a handful of other campers the worse that they should come away with would be a few minor scratches. Alan knew though that this was only the beginning and it all centered around Thalia's tree.

Taking a deep breath, he heard the pounding of human feet just in time to join him as the first monster leapt at the young demigod. It knew that it would probably not survive the day, but it would definitely try to taste the flesh of an immortal offspring. Its senses had detected that of the Love Goddess on the young teenager before it and had thought it had easy prey. Unfortunately for the beast of Tarturus, Alan was not a typical son of Aphrodite so he calmly stepped away from the lunge and cleanly lopped the head off the monster and watched as it disintegrated into dust before the body had reached the ground.

The other denizens of hell paused just long enough for the handful of Alan's comrades to reach Thalia's tree. The six demigods who had been trained the past few years to take care of all sorts of monsters made quick work of the beasts with Chiron having come to help as well after he had sent a few more groups of demigods out to check other areas for any approaching monsters.

"Right," Chiron said as the last of the dust settled. "Gather your brothers and sisters and meet in the amphitheater, I will be there soon." His gaze having settled on the tree that had protected the borders for so long now. There was a sense of command from Chiron's words that none of the demigods would think about going against so they quietly made their way back into camp.

"Hey Alan," A son of Hermes broke the silence once they were out of earshot of Chiron, "Do you know what's going on?"

Alan threw a look back to Thalia's tree and then turned to the boy who had asked him the question, "I don't have a hint of an idea, but something tells me that this will not be a pleasant summer."

The amphitheater was a den of voices as rumors and ideas floated around. Word had gotten out on just why Chiron had grabbed some of their best warriors thirty minutes ago and now they were waiting for confirmation on just what exactly happened. They didn't wait long however as Chiron soon walked in and instantly grabbed his charge's attention.

"Demigods!" His voice boomed and everyone was reminded that the easy going teacher had been around as long as the gods had. "I bring grave news. Thalia's tree has been poisoned and thus the barrier that protects us from the monsters is now failing." He gave no time for this information to sink in and continued speaking, "Until we find a way to reverse this travesty, there is a need for patrols along the border. I will be speaking to the heads of each cabin to formalize the schedules. It is a dark time, make no mistakes, but we will survive this as we have always done so."

 **A/N: I'm not impressed with the ending of this chapter to be honest, but I really don't like 'Sea of Monsters' either so I didn't expect it to be amazing. Hopefully next chapter will be better as Percy shows up to camp and realizes that while he is a son of one of the big three there is always a bigger fish. If you want to see anything happen in this story, please leave a review or PM!**


	3. More of a Request

"Who is he?" One Percy Jackson asked as he walked with Annabeth around camp. It had not been a good few days since he arrived and he had needed to get away from it all. Between the sacking of Chiron, the fading of Thalia's tree, and the new activities director, this summer was shaping up to be the same fun filled summer as last year.

Annabeth hummed and turned to look at whoever her friend was pointing out. It took a moment for her to place the individual, but when she did she glared at the teenager that was going through various katas that he had learned in Japan. This surprised Percy as usually her glare was only reserved for Ares' kids and even then it was rare. "That, is Alan a son of Aphrodite. He has no reason to be playing with weapons."

When Annabeth mentioned Alan was a son of the goddess of love, his thoughts went where everyone else went. He shouldn't be anywhere near weapons and he was probably using as a reflective surface. He also felt a bit of rage at the older teen as his mother had promised to make his life a bit more interesting than normal demigods as she found him intriguing. But, Percy did something that others tended not to do and he actually looked at Alan, looked at the way he moved. While he knew that he had a lot to learn with the sword, a lot more than he would actually admit as he was a teenager with delusions of grandeur, he knew when he was beaten. The camp always said that Luke was the best swordsman in ages, but Percy wondered if they had ignored the teen in front of him.

"I wonder if-" Percy began, but was interrupted by the lunch bell and when he looked back he saw that Alan had sheathed his swords and was now wiping down before moving to the pavilion. Percy was disappointed that he hadn't gotten a chance to show off, but figured that he would get his chance soon enough.

-Son of Love-

"So Alan, did you want to join the chariot races?" Silena asked her brother as they enjoyed the sun on one of their downtimes. Just because they weren't as flighty as their siblings it did not mean they didn't enjoy the simple things that came from being a child of Aphrodite. While they didn't have to work on their looks thanks to their mother's blessings, it didn't mean they didn't like to try and improve.

"And risk this pretty face?" He asked jokingly. "In truth, not really. I don't know for sure, but I would probably feel a bit constrained when it came down to it. I don't really like fighting from tight spaces and prefer room to move. I don't care if we would be technically moving in the chariot, I couldn't move my body like I wanted to. Why, you thinking about pairing up with that Hephaestus boy?" While he hadn't been around for long this summer, it wasn't that hard for Alan to catch the glances or whispered conversations.

Silena blushed prettily, how else was a child of Aphrodite supposed to blush anyways, before glaring at her half-brother. "Oh, you just don't like the fact that none of these mortals can match the standards of the wonderful Alan," She sighed dramatically at the end. Yet another way that Alan was different from his brothers and sisters was that he didn't make googly eyes at everything that moved. It was a little harsh to his siblings, but sometimes he couldn't help himself think the thoughts of the rest of the camp. He tried to fight it, but he was just as vain as his siblings, just not about the usual things.

Alan just smirked, "You never answered the question."

Silena huffed as she couldn't come up with something to say before putting on her headphones in an attempt to ignore him. Chuckling lightly, he squeezed her shoulder gently, sending a small smile and getting one in return, before he let himself drift off to the sound of the waves. He didn't know his mother's true origins, as there seemed to be two or three different stories that no one could agree on, but every one of her origins had her coming from the vast oceans. While they would never be as comfortable as a child of Poseidon or Triton in the water, or any of the sea creatures, the ocean never failed to have a calming effect on those that took the time to find one. So many things needed to be taken care of around the camp, but right now he was going to enjoy his break. Or at least that was the plan.

Even with the stress caused by the increasingly frequent monster attacks as well as the distraction of the upcoming chariot races, teenage demigods were still able to be caught up in the various grudges and their own personal vendettas. "Are you Alan?" A male voice asked and Alan tried not to curse the person that interrupted his down time.

Opening his eyes, he saw the figures of Annabeth Chase and the new Poseidon son. "Yes, what do you want?" He usually wasn't so snappish, but who could blame him at the moment. It was a rare moment of peace these days.

"I want to fight you," Percy Jackson said without preamble, his hand clutching a pen that he assumed to be a weapon.

Alan snorted in amusement before laying back down and closing his eyes. "No thanks. If you really want to fight someone, go find an Ares camper. They don't mind bashing skulls in at all times during the day."

Alan could sense the incredulous expression on Percy's face and he also felt the slight shift as Silena hid her amusement. Most demigods were always so antsy with their ADHD kicking in, but once again his mother came through for him. Sure, like all demigods he suffered from ADHD and dyslexic, but since the goddess of love was mostly focused on the outer appearances, at least to the average observer, if one of Aphrodite's children were doing something that made them look good the disorder wouldn't kick in. Sunning themselves on a beach was one such activity, so neither Alan or Silena felt any need to move on and do something else.

"What, why don't you want to fight me?" Percy asked, generally confused.

"It's obvious that he's a coward," Annabeth answered with a bit of contempt. It was obvious what Athena thought of Aphrodite and those ideas had been passed on to her children.

Alan moved his glasses down so Annabeth and Percy could see his eyes and then shrugged as he pushed them back up. "If that's what helps you sleep at night, then by all means continue believing this. I won't stop you." As a child of Dite that was able to wield a sword and knife, he had heard it all. After the first year it was like water off his back. It also helped that the two tat had approached him were two years younger than him and one was a child of Athena. "Now would you please move?"

"I want to fight!" Percy yelled, hoping to force the boy that seemed to be so blasé about it. To do this, he uncapped the pen and pointed the sword at the lounging teen. Silena was about to react violently and even Annabeth was taken back by how far this had progressed. Before the two could react or Percy could push his luck anymore, Alan reacted. Knocking the blade away from him with his forearm, he knocked Percy off his balance and rolled to his own feet. Before Percy could regain his balance, Alan was on him again.

Using a few pressure points that he had learned from his time in the land of the Rising Sun, he loosened Percy's hold on the sword and as he grabbed the weapon he tossed the young teen on the ground. Without breaking a sweat, Alan had reversed their positions with the blade lightly resting on Percy's throat and all within a handful of seconds. "There! We fought, you lost, we're done. You may be a natural swordsman, but I didn't see any skill."

"But you surprised me!" Percy argued as the sword moved from his throat.

"Don't really care," Alan shrugged and picked up his glasses that had fallen in all the movement. "You're the one that wanted a fight, you're the one that brought a weapon out here, and you're the one that provoked me. You need to check that impulsiveness or you'll wind up dead quicker than others." Dropping the sword, Alan walked away from the silent demigods knowing that he wouldn't be able to relax anytime soon. Stopping by his cabin which was relatively empty, he grabbed his weapons and made his way into the woods where Capture the Flag usually took place. Since the attacks had started, the forest had been eerily empty as Chiron had led a group of camper in to wipe out all the monsters so there was no pincer like movement to overwhelm the camp.

"Who's there?!" Alan demanded as he finished a kata that he had been taught in Japan. The presence was powerful, but if it was a threat to his home, he was going to defend it to his last breath.

"My, my, so jumpy. Though, I guess there is a reason for all heroes to be concerned at the moment," From the shadows stepped a beautiful woman that would make men stop and drool and women envious as they looked on. Alan did neither of this, but lit up with a smile and moved to hug the woman. "Hello my son," Aphrodite accepted the hug with a smile.

"Mother, what are you doing here?" He asked bewildered, "Not that I'm not glad to see you, but still. I didn't think any of the gods would be allowed to leave Olympus thanks to the problems with Thalia's tree."

"Zeus' laws have never fully stuck to me my son; they are more guidelines than anything. Granted, I do not make a habit of breaking his decrees, but I feel that this is such a time that I need to." Waving her hand, a fallen tree morphed into a comfortable looking couch where she led her son to seat next to her. "There will be a quest soon enough to go after one of the few items that could heal the tree, but healing Thalia is only part of the problem. I have spoken to most of the others on the council, even Hera, and they all agree that there needs to be something in place to prevent such a thing from ever happening again. That is where you come in my son."

"Me, what am I supposed to do?"

"You've heard of Hercules' twelve labors correct? In truth, the legend changed from the original man, who was named Heracles and someone that everyone could look up to, to the pig known as Hercules, but that is neither here nor there and I have a feeling that you will soon be hearing the true legend soon enough. No matter, you remember the task for the golden apple yes, and how he tricked Atlas? Do you remember why he needed Atlas' help?"

"It was because of the Draken right? I think his name was Ladon. His breath was so poisonous and his claws so sharp that no mortal or demi-mortal could get within ten feet of the monster before they were swiftly killed or devoured."

"That's right," Aphrodite smiled proudly, "And Athena says all my children are simple airheads. Those of us that have discussed it have agreed that a Draken would make the perfect guard for the tree so that this may never happen again. A Draken raised properly is much like Cerberus, the perfect guard and loyal to a fault. The creature will never harm a demigod as long as they mean no harm to what his home will be. While the camp tries to heal the tree, the other gods and I want you to find protection for it."

"Alright," Alan agreed without a thought. If others were going to take care of healing the tree, then he would make sure his home never suffered like this again. Besides, it was aggravating to be constantly looked down on by the rest of the campers even when he had saved their asses a few times these past few days. "Am I going on this quest alone?"

"You will be the only camper on this quest," Aphrodite clarified and looked a little guilty to her son. "Unfortunately, you will be joined by a hunter who has had experience with Drakens before and knows how to calm those that you are sure to encounter."

"And I won't die because the hunter wants to get back at me from a week ago by being too slow to calm the monster because?"

"This is more of a request from the gods than a quest. If she allows her prejudices to interfere with any part of this quest and allows you to die when she could have saved you, the full might of the council will be laid upon the hunt. There will be no more hunt and no girl will want to join Artemis for at least a millennium. She may not be the best companion for your quest, but she won't be a hindrance."

Alan sighed, but he knew that his mother wouldn't have allowed the chosen hunter to accompany him if he was in any danger, but that didn't mean he would like it. He would do it though if it meant that his home was protected. "So where am I meeting her?"

 **A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I just really don't like the second book. I don't know why as it is a good book, but there you go. I also don't like changing too much in PJO until the third book. If you have any suggestions as to where the duo need to go to find the Drakens then leave a review. Until next time!**


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